U-17 Training Camp
Training Camp U17entrance.jpg U17security.jpg U-17food1.jpg U-17food2.jpg U17FoodOverview.jpg Practicing at the U-17 Camp.png|Tezuka, Shiraishi and Tachibana can be seen doing fitness training in the camp's stae of the art facilities U-17 Camp Locker room 2.jpg|The 5th Court locker room The U-17 (Under 17) training camp, is a selection camp for top potentials in the Japanese tennis world. Before, only high schoolers were able to participate, but because the level of middle school tennis players has risen a lot some of them were invited as well. The camp itself is state of the art with a high tech security system (which is also utilized in the Revolutionary Brigade members' training), state of the art machines, high class food, comfortable dorms, a luxurious bath house, etc. The coaches are professional and analyze the players through monitoring cameras and computed data of each player's profiles. The head coach is Nyudō Mifūne. Main Courts Everyone is seperated by strength from court 1 to 16. The lower the court number, the stronger the players are. Everyday, before practice there a shuffle matches, between players from different courts. To rise a court, you need to win against a ‘stronger’ opponent. But if you lose against someone ‘weaker’, you’ll drop a court. For example; if player 1 from court 7 wins against player 2 from court 6, they switch courts. Meaning, player 1 will be in court 6 and player 2 in court 7. There are also team shuffle matches. These are matches between courts. If a lower court wins from a higher court, the members will be switched. For example; If court 4 wins against court 3, the members of court 4 will go to court 3 and those from court 3 will go to court 4. But if court 4 loses, nothing will happen. If a court loses, they have to wait a week before they can apply for a rematch. Players from courts 1-16 are known as the 2nd Stringers and wear white jerseys, with the exception of the Revolutionary Brigade members that wear black jerseys and take the 2nd court upon their return to the main camp. 1st Stringers'''are the 20 top tennis players from the camp that represent Japan for international competitions. 1st stringers wear red jerseys and have a distinctive badge they wear representing their number rankings. Court Leaders The 2nd Stringers are lead by '''Court Leaders, who is most often the strongest player of that court. The Court Leader's role is to assign match slots, as Oni did when he was the leader of Court 5 prior to the 3rd Vs. 5th Court Shuffle. List of Court Leaders, former and present: *Kanata Irie (Court 3 -> Court 5 -> No.20 -> No.11 1st Stringer) *Jūjirō Oni (Court 5 -> Court 3 -> No.5 1st Stringer) *Itarou Migihashi (Court 2 -> Unknown) Drunken Coach's Mountain A mountain located on the grounds of the U-17 camp where the Drunken Coach trains eliminated players with unconventional methods such as digging holes, sleeping in caves, and stealing sake from the main camp. It is described as "the depths of hell" by Kintaro. Middle school players that survive the mountain without leaving return to the main camp are known as The Revolutionary Brigade, the name deriving from the term used by the Drunk Coach Mifune as he calls for an uprising with the middle schoolers in the mountains, who he told should start a revolution. Members of the Revolutionary Brigade are known for wearing a black jersey, distinguishing them from the regular 2nd stringers who wear white. Coaches The U-17 camp features many professional trainers all in a black uniform and white cap who monitor the participant's progress. So far, the four Coaches introduced each specify in different areas, with the exception of the Drunken Coach. While Kurobe is U-17 Camp's strategic coach, Saito is U-17 camp's mental coach and Tsuge is the candidate circuit coach. The Drunken Coach appears to be a general coach for participants of the U-17 camp that have fallen. Though they specilize in different areas, all of the coaches have proven to be strict, cunning, and sharp. *Yukio Kurobe *Itaru Saitō *Ryūji Tsuge *Nyuudou Mifune Top 5 Most Popular Spots #Bistro/Cafe #Rooftop #U-17 Training Camp Dormitory #Library #Lounge/Break Room Participants Camp Statistics 1st String The 1st string is composed of the 20 top players from the U-17 camp that represent Japan for international competitions. They each wear a red U-17 jersey and a U-17 representation badge, thus making it a total of 20 badges. Similar to the 2nd stringers' courts, the lower the number, the stronger the player. When a 1st stringer loses a match, their badge is given to their victor. With the exception of No. 2 Shūji Tanegashima and the original No. 5 Jūjirō Oni, the 20 members of the U-17 reprentatives recently returned from abroad. Current 1st Stringers: Original 1st Stringers: 2nd String 2nd stringers include the members of court 1-16, including the middle schoolers that won the tiebreak elimination match. They participate in both player and court shuffle matches, explained above. The vast majority of 2nd string members wear white jerseys. However those of other Revolutionary Brigade wear black jerseys. Kanata Irie (originally from Court 3, No. 20, and No.11 later on) and Jūjirō Oni, (originally from Court 5 and No. 5 later on) are two known players to be amongst the strongest in the camp despite not being in the 1st court. Kazuya Tokugawa and Shūji Tanegashima, originally from the 1st court, were revealed to be part of the 1st string. Tokugawa was accepted after Ryoga abandoned his position to join the US team and Tanegashima stayed behind due to his hatred of airplanes. Middle school members of the 2nd string are the winners of the tiebreaker elimination match. They include: Kunimitsu Tezuka (left for Germany), Shusuke Fuji, Eiji Kikumaru, Kippei Tachibana, Akira Kamio, Hajime Mizuki, Keigo Atobe, Jirō Akutagawa, Yushi Oshitari, Chōtarō Ootori, Jin Akutsu, Kiyosumi Sengoku, Kentarō Minami, Hikaru Amane, Seiichi Yukimura (now a 1st Stringer as No. 11, but still currently wears a white jersey), Akaya Kirihara, Bunta Marui, Yagyū Hiroshi, Eishirō Kite, Rin Hirakoba, Hiroshi Chinen, Liliadent Krauser, Kuranosuke Shiraishi, Senri Chitose and Gin Ishida. Revolutionary Brigade Members of the 2nd string that were the middle school losers during the tiebreaker elimination event. All Revolutionary Brigade members trained under the Drunken Coach in the mountain after their loss where they improved their tennis skills. The only two exceptions are Hitōji Yūji and Zaizen Hikaru, who did not participate in the tiebreak elimination event but arrived to the camp late, joining the losers. The Revolutionary Brigade claimed the 2nd court following their return to the main camp. 8 of its 27 members defeated No. 12 - No. 19 from the 1st string, though onl 7 currently remain as 1st Stringers because Masaharu Niō (former No. 15) returned his badge looking for a higher number. The members are all middle school students, and they include: Echizen Ryoma, Kaoru Kaidō, Inui Sadaharu, Shinji Ibu, Yūta Fuji, Masami Higashikata, Hiyoshi Wakashi, Ryo Shishido, Gakuto Mukahi, Harukaze Kurobane, Genichirō Sanada, Jackal Kuwahara, Konjiki Koharu, Hitōji Yūji, Zaizen Hikaru, Richard Sakata, Kei Tanishi, Yuujirou Kai, and Satoru Kadowaki. Volunteers These 'volunteers' (actually, intruders) were first in both the manga and anime as 1st years who sneaked into the U-17 Camp to deliver something for the regulars. However, in the anime, they were seen living together in a dorm at the U-17 Camp. *Satoshi Horio (Seigaku) *Dan Taichi (Yamabuki) *Urayama Shiita (Rikkaidai) Trivia *As there are third year high schoolers, there are also eighteen-year-olds in the camp. *U-17 actually means anybody who is eighteen years old or younger. U-17 and other age categories in tennis are sorted and based off on the year of birth not on your year of schooling. *The camp appears to be located somewhere close to Tokyo as Kaido and Momoshiro were able to run/cycle their way there. *Through an official artwork released by Konomi Takeshi prior to the return of the First Stringers, it is somewhat confirmed that Sanada Genichiro, Marui Bunta, Fuji Shusuke, Shirashi Kuranosuke, Atobe Keigo, Oshitari Kenya, and Echizen Ryoma will become a few of the new First Stringers. All, except Kenya, were selected to participate in the U-17 World Cup (U-14 for the Middle Schoolers). *In chapter 130 of NPoT, there is a list of the new 1st String, consisting of all the original G10 members with Tokugawa being listed as No. 4 and Irie as No. 11 (No. 12-20 aren't shown). *There is a special MSer division in the World Cup. Mifune announces the selected MSers. Atobe is selected as the team captain. The other chosen MSers are: Yukimura, Shiraishi, Sanada, Akutsu, Tooyama, Marui, Fuji, Niou, Ishida, Oishi, Kite, Kirihara. Category:Locations Category:Training Camps